2. Neuroscience Flashcards
What are the two neural pathways most associated with reward?
Mesolimbic dopamine pathway Mesocortical dopamine pathway
Where does the mesolimbic dopamine pathway start?
Ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brainstem.
What does the ventral tegmental area do?
Produces dopamine.
Where is the nucleus accumbens and what is it associated with?
It’s in the ventral striatum, associated with motivation and reward. Receives input from VTA.
What happens, in terms of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, when we experience something rewarding?
Dopamine neurons in the VTA are activated. These neurons project to the nucleus accumbens via the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, causing dopamine levels to rise in the nucleus accumbens.
Where does the mesocortical dopamine pathway go?
From the ventral tegmental area, to the cortex, specifically to the frontal lobes.
When is the mesocortical dopamine pathway activated?
During rewarding experiences, much like the mesolimbic dopamine pathway.
What evidence repudiated the notion that dopamine correlates with pleasure?
Dopamine neurons are activated BEFORE a reward is received, and thus before the pleasure is experienced.
What behaviours is dopamine activation associated with?
Assigning importance to environmental stimuli and increasing reward seeking.
What is the forebrain?
Forebrain, also called prosencephalon, is a region of the developing vertebrate brain; it includes the telencephalon, which contains the cerebral hemispheres, and, under these, the diencephalon, which contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, and subthalamus. The forebrain plays a central role in the processing of information related to complex cognitive activities, sensory and associative functions, and voluntary motor activities. It represents one of the three major developmental divisions of the brain; the other two are the midbrain and hindbrain.
Where is the nucleus accumbens?
In the basal forebrain – the front bottom part of the brain.
The nucleus accumbens is the main component of the _______ _______, and is situated between the _________ and the _________
The nucleus accumbens is the main component of the ventral striatum, and is situated between the caudate and the putamen.
The nucleus accumbens can be divided into two anatomical components – the ______ and the ______.
The nucleus accumbens can be divided into two anatomical components – the core and the shell.
